Titus 2:6

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(6) Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.—The task of influencing the young men belongs especially to Titus. Among them, in respect to age, he still must be reckoned; as regarded their peculiar temptations, none could be found so fit as the still young Christian disciple of St. Paul (he ‘was probably about forty years of age when he was placed over the Cretan Church) to set out vividly before them both the peril and the only means of guarding against it. Brought up in a Pagan home, not improbably in the luxurious and wicked Syrian Antioch, drawn to the Master’s side in the fresh dawn of manhood, tried in many a difficult task and found faithful, the words of Titus, exhorting the youth of Crete to be sober-minded, or self-restrained, would be likely to have great weight. In this word, which urged self-restraint, a young man’s duty is briefly comprehended. No task, the wise Chrysostom tells us, is after all so hard and difficult for youth, as obtaining the mastery over oneself in the matter of harmful pleasures. The Apostle gives but few special directions here for his disciple’s guidance, for he is going to tell him how he will best win these young men to the side of Christ. It will be, he proceeds to show him, most effectually done by the sight of the example of his own manly, self-restrained religious life.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:1-8 Old disciples of Christ must behave in every thing agreeably to the Christian doctrine. That the aged men be sober; not thinking that the decays of nature will justify any excess; but seeking comfort from nearer communion with God, not from any undue indulgence. Faith works by, and must be seen in love, of God for himself, and of men for God's sake. Aged persons are apt to be peevish and fretful; therefore need to be on their guard. Though there is not express Scripture for every word, or look, yet there are general rules, according to which all must be ordered. Young women must be sober and discreet; for many expose themselves to fatal temptations by what at first might be only want of discretion. The reason is added, that the word of God may not be blasphemed. Failures in duties greatly reproach Christianity. Young men are apt to be eager and thoughtless, therefore must be earnestly called upon to be sober-minded: there are more young people ruined by pride than by any other sin. Every godly man's endeavour must be to stop the mouths of adversaries. Let thine own conscience answer for thine uprightness. What a glory is it for a Christian, when that mouth which would fain open itself against him, cannot find any evil in him to speak of!

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Young men likewise exhort to be sober-minded - Margin, "discreet." On the meaning of the Greek word used here (σωφρονεῖν sōphronein), see the notes at Titus 2:2, Titus 2:4. The idea is, that they should be entreated to be prudent, discreet, serious in their deportment; to get the mastery over their passions and appetites; to control the propensities to which youth are subject; and that there should be such self-government, under the influence of, religion, as to avoid excess in everything. A well-governed mind, superior to the indulgence of those passions to which the young are prone, will express the meaning of the word here. They should be "steady in their behaviour, superior to sensual temptations, and constant in the exercise of every part of self-government." Doddridge. The reasons for this are obvious:

(1) The hopes of the church depend much on them.

(2) a young man who cannot govern himself, gives little promise of being useful or happy.

(3) Indulgence in the propensities to which young men are prone, will, sooner or later, bring ruin to the body and the soul.

(4) they are just at the period of life when they are exposed to special temptations, and when they need to exercise a special guardianship over their own conduct.

(5) like others, they may soon die; and they should be habitually in such a frame of mind, as to be prepared to stand before God. A young man who feels that he may be soon in the eternal world, cannot but be sensible of the propriety of having a serious mind, and of living and acting as in the immediate presence of his Maker and Judge.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

6. Young—Greek, "The younger men."

sober-minded—self-restrained [Alford]. "Nothing is so hard at this age as to overcome pleasures and follies" [Chrysostom].

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The word signifieth to be temperate, sober, wise, discreet, to govern their passions; an exhortation more specially necessary for young men, whose natural heat inclineth them to passion and rashness.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded. Temperate, chaste, modest, moderate, wise, and prudent in all things: this is said to Titus, as being his province to instruct and exhort the young men; as it were proper and convenient for aged women to teach the young women how they should behave and conduct themselves.

Geneva Study Bible

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Meyer's NT Commentary

Titus 2:6. Τοὺς νεωτέρους] “the younger men;” not, as Matthies supposes, the younger members of the church, without distinction of sex.

ὡσαύτως] here, as in Titus 2:3, on account of the similarity of the exhortation.

παρακάλει σωφρονεῖν] equivalent to σώφρονας εἶναι, opposed to omnibus immoderatis affectibus (Beza). Hofmann: “The whole purport of the apostle’s exhortations is included by the apostle in the one word σωφρονεῖν, which therefore contains everything in which the moral influence of Christianity may be displayed.”

Expositor's Greek Testament

Titus 2:6. ὡσαύτως: See on 1 Timothy 2:9.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

6–8. The standard of holy living for young men

6. The younger women in Crete were to be placed under the guidance of elder women, though in Ephesus Timothy was himself to instruct them. The young men are to have the special care of Titus.

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded] Rather, the younger men … pure minded. The verb occurs in Mark 5:15, Luke 8:35, of the ‘possessed of devils’ being restored to sound reason; and in Romans 12:3, 2 Corinthians 5:13, of sober, reasonable judgment; but here, from the context, and from the use of the cognate verb Titus 2:4 and its context, and of the corresponding adjectives, 1 Timothy 3:2; Titus 1:8; Titus 2:2; Titus 2:5, it seems limited to ‘purity of mind and spirit.’ In the somewhat similar exhortation to Timothy, 1 Timothy 5:22, the word is different, ‘keep thyself chaste,’ as above in Titus 2:5 ‘chaste’ is joined with ‘pure’. ‘Chaste’ is suitable there because sins, actual sins, are the contrast rather than an impure spirit and state of mind.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 6. - The younger for young, A.V. The younger (see 1 Peter 5:5, where, however, the νεώτεροι are contrasted with the πρεσβύτεροι, as in 1 Timothy 5:1; here with πρεσβύτας in ver. 2). Titus 2:6